


Dead Man Talking

by hazellepotter



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alexandria - Freeform, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Heartbreak, Loss, Love, Michonne pov, Post The Walking Dead Season 9 AU, Reunion, Richonne - Freeform, TWD Season 9, The Walking Dead Season 9 AU, Time Jump AU, reunion au, the walking dead - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2020-01-01 07:35:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18331529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazellepotter/pseuds/hazellepotter
Summary: "Michonne, I have loved you all this time."





	Dead Man Talking

Michonne found a way to talk to Rick every morning. It became such a consistent ritual that when she was unable to do it on time, it made her irritable. It was almost obsessive, but Michonne didn't care. It kept her sane. After everything that had happened, _after everything they had lost_ , she needed to feel like a piece of Rick was still alive.

She would play with his ring in between her fingers as she wrote, or she would clean his python as she spoke to him out loud by Carl's grave. She told him how sorry she was that she couldn't find him, not only for her their sake, but for Judith and RJ's. She told him all about their daughter. How Judith was as stubborn as Carl and as brave as her father. She told him all about RJ. How he had his curls and had already started to develop his father's big heart. She told him how she wished he could be there to watch their son grow, and how much she missed Carl. 

As she searched for any evidence that Rick was alive or dead, she would talk to Carl. She would ask him for advice, even sometimes out loud. Daryl would act like he didn't hear her, but she knew he did. Michonne wondered if Daryl talked out loud to the dead, too. For some reason, it made her feel like they weren't completely gone. Like they were still a part of the world she was living in. 

After she found her friend's heads on pikes and moved the Kingdom to the Hilltop, Michonne felt a sense of hope, but also fear. She knew that she no longer had to be afraid of their communities losing contact, because she would not allow it to happen again, but she was afraid that the Whisperer's would come back and take her friends, or worse, her children. _Their children._ They had already lost one, she couldn't lose another one of them. Especially if their father was already gone. 

It was those times late at night when she would watch RJ or Judith sleep that she would really wish Rick was there. He would hold her close and brush back her hair off her shoulder. He would whisper in her ear that this was why they were still fighting to be alive. He would tell her he loved her, and then he would hold her in his arms all throughout the night to make sure she knew she was safe. Michonne always made others feel so safe that sometimes she felt she was not safe herself. Like it was all a lie to make sure that others around her were okay. She didn't want it to be a lie, not anymore, but as the years went on without Rick, she knew it had become a lie she started to tell herself in the dark to fall asleep. 

She hadn't visited the demolished bridge for quite some time, but as the snow melted away and she was able to get away, she made time for herself. She made time for _them._

She sat down by the side of the river and listened to the birds chirp and the walkers groan from across the way as they made their way around. Their groans had become her constant companion, and it was weird to think there was something about them that put her at ease.

Michonne played with Rick's ring in between her fingers and said aloud, "Rick, I love you still."

She was about to continue when she heard _his voice._ It was now she determined that after six years, she was crazy. She was now hearing things; she hadn't even heard his voice in the beginning of him being gone. But she closed her eyes to listen to it.

_"Michonne, I have loved you all this time."_

A tear trailed down her cheek as she memorized his voice once again. She heard footsteps and opened her eyes slowly, expecting it to be a walker. But instead, _it was him._ It was Rick Grimes in the flesh, or so she thought. She was probably having visual hallucinations now. There was no way he could be here. She was sure he was dead at this point, sure of it, even though she tried to keep hope.

"I have really gone crazy now, haven't I?" She asked the hallucination, "It has really come to this and how much I miss you."

His curls had grown out again, but he looked fairly clean. She had the urge to run her hands through them, but she knew if she stood up and reached out, she would feel nothing. He was only a part of her dreams.

"You're not crazy, Michonne," the image of Rick told her, "I'm right here with you."

"You're with me always, I know," she told him, "I feel you, but you are not _here_. You will never be here again. Your arms around me are a distant memory."

The hallucination sat next to her and grabbed her hand, and to her surprise, she could feel him. _She could feel his touch._ He had the same callouses as before and the same scar on his index finger. She felt her eyes widened as she studied his hand. She was afraid that if she looked up he would disappear into thin air.

"It-it can't be," she stuttered, "You're not real."

"I'm real," he whispered, _"I'm real."_

Michonne found the courage to look up into his eyes. They were as blue as ever and full of tears. His face softened as she cried, and he pulled her close to his body. Michonne could feel his heartbeat. It was real, he was real. Even if just for a moment.

"Where have you been?" She asked him between sobs.

He pulled away from her to look into her eyes, he brushed her hair out of her face, "It's a long story."

"I have time," she tried to joke.

He smiled, "I will tell you all about it when we get home. How's Judith?"

It then occurred to her that he had no idea RJ existed.

"She's beautiful," Michonne told him, "And so _so_ brave. I see Carl in her more and more every day. And our son, he's beautiful, too. So much like his father."

Rick's smile turned into shock, "But Carl, he's-"

"Not Carl," she corrected him, "RJ."

It was then Rick started to cry, realizing he had missed the birth of their son. Michonne held him as he cried at all that he had missed and lost. It was then Michonne knew she was not the only one who felt so alone for all these years. They may have aged, but time had stopped for them as they were apart. Life didn't make sense without the other.

"I need to see them," Rick finally said, "I need to-"

Michonne stood up and pulled him up with her, "I know," she said, "But first."

It was then she pulled the python out of its holster. She took it from Judith that morning to clean it. A look of recognition spread across Rick's face as he took it from her carefully. 

"You're back," Michonne whispered.

And for the first time in years, they felt alive again. 


End file.
